High blood pressure drug's link to increased cancer risk studied

One type of drug used to treat high blood pressure is called an "ARB" drug -- sold under various brand names including telmisartan and candesartan.  Scientists now believe that using ARB drugs may be associated with increased risk of developing new fatal cancer, especially lung cancer.  A recently published study found that more than 7 percent of patients taking ARBs were diagnosed with a new cancer over a period of four years, compared with 6 percent of patients not taking the drugs. Lung cancer rates increased most sharply; with the risk of lung cancer apparently increasing by 25 percent.
However, a spokesman for Cancer Research (in the United Kingdom) warned that patients should not stop taking the ARB drugs based on this research, and instead should speak to their physicians about the issue.  The manufacturers of the ARB drugs strongly disagree with the findings in the study.